(Dan Mohrmann/CHSAANow.com)
COLORADO SPRINGS – Good basketball teams limit their mistakes and capitalize on the mistakes of their opponents. Thursday night, that’s what made St. Mary’s a good basketball team as the Pirates jumped out to a quick start and took down league foe La Junta 69-59.
The No. 5 team in the Class 3A CHSAANow.com girls basketball poll, the Pirates (15-1 overall, 8-0 Tri-Peaks League) came out aggressive on defense, pressing the Tigers (12-4, 5-2) at every turn. In the first quarter, St. Mary’s rattled off a 9-0 run, creating several offensive looks off turnovers.
“It seemed like it gave us the advantage we needed,” St. Mary’s coach Mike Burkett said. “We did a lot of good things.”
But the Tigers were far from out of the game and once they were able to break the Pirates’ press, they were able to fight and claw their way back.
Annie Davis knocked down a couple of huge 3-pointers in the second quarter which really helped La Junta make a run. Down as many as 11 in the quarter, the Tigers were to go into halftime trailing only 33-30.
And, in a way, things were going their at the start of the second half. The Pirates seemed out of sync offensively and had a hard time getting good shots off. They didn’t score a field goal until there 2:45 left in the third quarter when Makenna Bodette finally put one in from under the basket.
The only problem was that during the field goal drought, the Tigers couldn’t capitalize by scoring their own buckets. To make matters worse, Davis got herself into foul trouble and was forced to the bench.
“Part of it was a little fatigue from the first half,” Tigers coach Roger Davis said. “We weren’t making our shots and we weren’t flashing to the ball hard like we were earlier. And then we caught our second wind and started doing that, but it was a shame that we couldn’t do it in the first four or five minutes.”
With Davis on the bench, it was Lauren Addington who stepped up offensively for La Junta. She netted 11 of her 19 points – which tied for the game high – in the second half.
But the final two quarters really belonged Maggie Hartman from St. Mary’s. The senior has adapted a new role this season and hasn’t been asked to pick up the scoring load as much as she had been in past seasons. But when Burkett needs someone to step up, all he needs to do is look in Hartman’s direction.
“Our coaches made some really good adjustments at halftime and they told us to work more as a team and swing the ball to create opportunities for everyone else,” she said. “That really helped me because when people were cutting it took a lot of pressure off and the lane opened up.
Hartman scored nine of her 19 points in the fourth quarter alone as the Pirates found some cushion on the scoreboard.
Next up for the Pirates is a trip to Manitou Springs to take on the undefeated Mustangs. Should Manitou beat Buena Vista on Saturday, the winner of Tuesday’s game will likely walk away as Tri-Peaks League champions.
“Manitou is a great team and it’s such challenge and such a fun opportunity to play them,” Hartman said. “The best thing about basketball is that you can never have a perfect game. You can always improve little things. We’ll definitely work hard in practice and expect Manitou to play a good game.”